Background

Submitted to the Security Council in October 2010, the Secretary-General’s report S/2010/498[1] on women and peace and security presented a set of indicators for use at the global level to track implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). In its presidential statement (S/PRST/2010/22)[2] following the presentation of this report, the Security Council supported taking forward the set of indicators “for use as an initial framework to track implementation of its resolution 1325 in situations of armed conflict and post-conflict and other situations relevant to the implementation of resolution 1325, as appropriate, and taking into account the specificity of each country.” The report summarizes the next steps required to take forward the set of indicators, such as the definition of methods for data collection and collation, development of reporting templates, elaboration of guidance, definition of timelines, etc. (see paragraphs 119-124).

UN Women is leading an inter-agency process to ensure the coordinated implementation and reporting on these indicators in the annual report of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security. The indicators are organized in three sets by phases of implementation: (i) indicators monitoring progress on existing UN commitments to 1325 implementation; (ii) indicators that require a shift in UN activities to meet commitments; and (iii) indicators for voluntary reporting by Member States.

Among the indicators for voluntary reporting by Member States is 1325 indicator on the extent to which measures to protect women’s and girls’ human rights are included in national security policy (NSP) frameworks. NSPs set out how national security is to be achieved. A gender-sensitive NSP can identify the needs and priorities of different sectors in society (e.g., women, youth) and enables more effective early warning for conflict. As part of the 1325 indicators system, regular measurement and examination of existing or new NSPs can help ensure NSPs are gender-sensitive. The indicator aims to recognize lessons on constructing or reforming NSPs both to become more gender-sensitive and to ensure that they include criteria for measuring compliance with UNSC resolutions in their design.

In 2012, a series of consultations will be held to develop and refine the technical definitions, data collection mechanisms and reporting channels of the voluntary Member State indicators.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Peace and Security Section of UN Women, the Offeror will coordinate and conduct research and produce a report reviewing a) existing national security policies, and relevant literature to these, that have been promulgated since 2000 in a selection of case study countries, b) elaboration of a methodological approach to measure and evaluate the extent to which national security policies incorporate protection of women’s and girls’ human rights, and c) an application of this approach to existing national security policies in a selection of case study countries. This will involve:

Develop a listing of national security policy frameworks and review of literature on gender dimensions of these frameworks:

Definition of a working set of criteria to identify documents relevant to national security policy frameworks, applicable in particular to conflict and post-conflict countries.

A listing of relevant national security policy framework documents adopted since January 2000 in a selection of countries relevant to women and peace and security issues.

Conduct survey of relevant literature and analyses that can support collection of data and assessment of national security policy frameworks through a gender sensitive lens and in particular as measures for the protection of women’s and girls’ rights.

Development of a methodology to assess inclusion of women’s and girls’ rights through national security policies:

Overview of methods (e.g., counting gender-sensitive terms, establishing baseline and deviation from baseline measures, etc.) to assess existing and new gender-specific language within NSP documents (e.g., share of all recommendations made by the national security framework or policy that relate to the protection and/or advancement of women’s and girls’ rights).

Methodology should include analysis of the context of security threats to women and girls.

Types of measures to protect and/or advance women’s and girls’ rights within national security framework documents should be able to be categorized.

Pilot and testing of methodology through select case study countries:

Through desk review, develop case studies to demonstrate results of the methodology through select case studies of countries relevant for women and peace and security contexts.

Analysis and assessment of efforts taken to integrate gender-sensitive provisions into national security policy frameworks that emerges through the case studies.

Expected outputs/deliverables:

Annotated outline for the research study with key issues, questions and methodologies to be covered, including list of national security policy framework.

A report between 20 and 35 single-space pages, a) assessing feasibility of measuring the indicator, b) developing a methodology to assess the extent of inclusion of women’s and girls’ rights in national security frameworks, and c) piloting the methodology in a set of select countries.

The final report should also highlight key gaps and challenges and include a set of proposed policy recommendations for improving the assessing the extent to which measures to protect women’s and girls’ rights are included in national security policy frameworks.

Revisions, as needed, and finalization of report.

Participation, as required, in planning and running analytical or review/validation events, and in the presentation of findings and facilitation of discussion around the inclusion of measures to protect women’s and girls’ rights in national security policy frameworks.

Contributing to the development of the UN WOMEN database of national security policy frameworks through the identification of relevant documents and materials to be integrated into the list.

Delivery Items & Times:

Annotated outline for the research – 7 business days from contracting

A report – 6 weeks from validation of the annotated outline by the procuring entity

2 Rounds of Approval – 2 weeks following the submission of each phase of the report

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